Frequent Moves Said To Boost Risk of School Problems

Children who move frequently are much more likely to have behavioral
problems or fail a grade than their peers, a new study concludes.

The study, reported in the Sept. 15 issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association, analyzed data on 9,915 six- to
17-year-olds who were involved in the 1988 National Health Interview
Survey conducted by the Census Bureau.

While educators have long recognized the disruptive effects of
frequent moves on children's schooling, the study is believed to be the
first major effort to isolate the effects of moving from such other
risk factors as poverty, race, single-parent family, or lack of
parental education.

After adjusting for such factors, the study showed that children who
moved often--at least six times from grades 1 to 12--were 77 percent
more likely than those with few or no moves to have four or more
behavior problems, and 35 percent more likely to fail a grade. Behavior
problems ranged from acting depressed to fighting with peers.

Among the frequent movers, 18 percent had four or more behavior
problems, and 23 percent had repeated a grade, compared with 7 percent
and 12 percent, respectively, of the children who rarely moved.

Dr. David Wood, the principal author of the study and a professor of
pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, noted that
poor families move 50 percent to 100 percent more often than more
affluent families, and that other risk factors have an "additive''
effect to the problems linked with moving.

Potent Predictor

But the study's main contribution to the education field, Dr. Wood
said, is showing that high mobility alone "is a very important
predictor of whether a child will do well in school.''

"Schoolteachers know that moves are stressful for kids,'' he said,
but the study suggests mobility is "as potent a predictor as having
parents who are not well educated or parents who are poor.''

Dr. Wood said health professionals should recognize the role of
frequent moves in "child dysfunction,'' include such data on intake
questionnaires, and help refer highly mobile families for needed
services.

He also urged the expansion of school-based resource centers to help
families address issues that spur mobility and to provide more social
services and support to those affected by moves.

Past studies focusing on "financially healthy'' populations, Dr.
Wood noted, have tended to equate family moves with "individual
betterment,'' while overlooking the grimmer conditions that lead poorer
families to move and the consequences for children.

Vol. 13, Issue 03

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